Forest Conservation Biology
• Objectives:
– Overview of Conservation Biology
• Biodiversity
– What is it?
– Why is it important?
– What are the threats to biodiversity?
• Forest Conservation Management
*Parts of this lecture were adapted from online materials provided by the Network of Conservation
Educators and Practitioners, Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of
Natural Heritage (http://ncep.amnh.org/index.php?globalnav=home&sectionnav=home).
© 2004, by the authors of the material, with license for use granted to the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation of the
American Museum of Natural History. All rights reserved.
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Forest Conservation Biology
• Background Questions:
– What is conservation biology? How does it differ from
biological conservation? Restoration ecology and
ecological restoration?
– What is biodiversity? Why is biodiversity important?
– What are the past and current threats to biodiversity?
– How can forests be managed for conservation of
biodiversity?
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Forest Conservation Biology
• Terminology
– Conservation biology
• science of analyzing and preserving existing biological
diversity (i.e., biodiversity)
– Save it before it becomes damaged, degraded, or destroyed
– Based on fundamental ecological and evolutionary principles
– Conservation biology (the science) vs. biological conservation
(the practice)
– Society for Conservation Biology (www.conbio.org/)
» SCB Mission: To advance the science and practice of
conserving the Earth's biological diversity.
– Association of Tropical Biology & Conservation (www.tropicalbio.org/)
» ATBC Mission: To promote research & foster the exchange of
ideas among biologists working in tropical environments.
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Forest Conservation Biology
• Conservation biology vs. Restoration ecology
– Conservation biology is to biological conservation what
restoration ecology is to ecological restoration
– “conserving what is left” vs. “restoring what once was”
vs.
Manukā Tropical Dry Forest Protected Area
Ka’upulehu Tropical Dry Forest Restoration
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Forest Conservation Biology
•What is biodiversity?
– Biodiversity (biological diversity) refers to the diversity
in the living (biotic) component of ecological systems
– There are several levels of biodiversity
• Genetic, species, population, community, ecosystem, and
landscape
• Important interactions exist between and within levels
– Ecological and evolutionary processes are
fundamental
• Drive observed patterns in biodiversity at all levels
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Forest Conservation Biology
•What is biodiversity?
– the variety of life on Earth at all its levels, from genes
to ecosystems, and the ecological and evolutionary
processes that determine and sustain it
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Dimensions of biodiversity
Genetic
component
Spatial component
Functional
component
Temporal
component
within individuals
communities
daily
within populations
ecosystems
e.g. reproductive
behavior, predation,
parasitism
between
populations
landscapes
annual
ecoregions
geological or
evolutionary
between species
seasonal
biogeographic
regions
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Genetic diversity
“The variation in the
nucleotides, genes,
chromosomes, or
whole genomes of
organisms”
Source: Human Genome Project, Department of Energy
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Genetic diversity
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Source: ©AMNH-CBC
Forest Conservation Biology
•Phenotypic (morphological) diversity
– Phenotype - the physical constitution of an organism (that
results from its genetic constitution (genotype) and the
action of the environment on the expression of the genes)
Phenotypic diversity
refers to variation in
the physical traits of
organisms
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Domroese ©AMNH-CBC
Forest Conservation Biology
•Population diversity
– Variation in the quantitative and spatial
characteristics between populations
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Community diversity
– Variation in the groups of populations and
species that share an environment
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Ecosystem diversity
– Variation in ecosystem types across a landscape
Tropical Wet Forest
Tropical Dry Forest
Tropical
Shrubland
Tropical Grassland
Tropical
Wetland
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Landscape diversity
– Variation in landscapes within a region
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Species diversity
– Most common level to quantify biodiversity
– Defined differently based on:
• Morphological (looks)
• Biological (sex)
• Phylogenetics (genetics)
– Different definitions produce different
estimates of the total number of species
• Implications for management and conservation
planning?
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Species diversity
– Consists of two metrics:
• Richness: # of species present in a given area
• Evenness: species # weighted by measure of
importance (e.g., abundance, productivity or size)
• Sometimes referred to as species abundance (~)
• Diversity Indices
• Shannon’s diversity index (H) = -åri ln ri
• where ri is the total number of individuals of
species i expressed as a proportion of the total
number of individuals of all species in the
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ecosystem
Forest Conservation Biology
•Species diversity
RICHNESS vs. EVENNESS
250
Ecosystem A
SR = 4
H' = 1.3086
SE = 0.94
Ecosystem B
SR = 3
H' = 1.0807
SE = 0.98
Ecosystem C
SR = 3
H' = 1.0323
SE = 0.94
200
150
Species 1
Species 2
Species 3
Species 4
100
50
0
Ecosystem
Adapted from: Hunter, M. Jr. 2002. Fundamentals of Conservation Biology. 2nd Edition.
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Species diversity
– Richness measured differently at different scales
• Alpha-diversity: Measured locally, at a single site
• Beta-diversity: Measures the uniqueness, or the
difference between two sites
• Gamma-diversity: Measured over a large scale
(same concept as alpha-diversity, but larger scale)
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Species diversity
– Alpha vs. Beta vs. Gamma Diversity
Hypothetical
species
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
Alpha diversity
Beta diversity
Gamma diversity
Woodland
habitat
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
10
Woodland vs.
hedgerow: 7
Hedgerow
habitat
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
7
Hedgerow vs.
open field: 8
14
Open field
habitat
X
X
X
3
Woodland vs.
open field: 13
(Meffe et al. 2002)
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Global Species diversity
– How many species exist globally?
• So far, ~1.5-1.75 million species have been
identified
• Scientists estimate that there may be between 3
and 100 million species on Earth
– Current estimate of 8.7 million species (Mora et al. 2011)
» 2.2 million marine and the rest terrestrial
» Only includes eukaryotic organisms
» 86% of the species on Earth, and 91% in the ocean,
have not been described
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Global Species diversity
Estimated Number of Described Species
Nematoda Actinopterygii
Bacteria 20,000 (1.1%) 23,712 (1.4%)
9,021 (0.5%)
Archaea
259 (0.01%)
Other Vertebrata
27,199 (1.6%)
Other Eucarya
36,702 (2.1%)
Crustacea
38,839 (2.2%)
Other Plantae
49,530 (2.8%)
Arachnida
74,445 (4.3%)
Insecta
827,875 (47.3%)
Other invertebrate
Metazoa
82,047 (4.7%)
Fungi
100,800 (5.8%)
Stramenopiles
105,922 (6.1%)
Mollusca
117,495 (6.7%)
Angiospermae
233,885 (13.4%)
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Hawai‘i Species diversity
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Why is biodiversity important?
– Intrinsic/inherent value
• The value of something independent of its value to
anyone or anything else
• A philosophical concept
– Extrinsic/utilitarian/instrumental value
• Uses or applications of biodiversity
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Values of Biodiversity
Land developer
Local communities
Government
agency
Oil company
Source: Sterling/Frey © AMNH-CBC
Aquaculture company
Environmental
group
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Extrinsic Values of Biodiversity
Direct Use
Value(Goods)
Indirect Use
Value
(Services)
Food, medicine,
building material,
fiber, fuel
Atmospheric and
climate
regulation,
pollination,
nutrient recycling
Potential (or
Option) Value
Future value
either as a good
or service
Cultural, Spiritual
and Aesthetic
Existence Value
Value of knowing
something exists
Bequest Value
Value of knowing
that something
will be there for
future
generations
Non-Use Values
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function
– Is biodiversity important in determining the goods
and services that ecosystems provide?
• Stable ecosystems are characterized by (1 or more):
– Constancy (Lack of fluctuation)
– Resistance (Resistance to perturbation)
– Resilience (Ability to recover)
• Not all species are critical to ecosystem function
– Many fill redundant roles
– Basis for community stability (resistance and resilience)
• If too many species (or a keystone species) are lost, it
leads to the decline/failure of ecosystem function
– Rivet-popper vs. Redundancy hypotheses
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function
– Is biodiversity important in determining the
goods and services that ecosystems provide?
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function
– Studies indicate that there is a correlation
between biodiversity & ecosystem function
• Varies somewhat from system to system
– Redundancy hypothesis has the most support
(Hooper et al. 2005)
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Forest Conservation Biology
•What are the current threats to biodiversity?
– Direct threats
•
•
•
•
•
Habitat loss and fragmentation
Invasive species
Overexploitation
Pollution
Global Climate Change
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Forest Conservation Biology
•What are the current threats to biodiversity?
– Underlying causes
• Human population growth
• Human over-consumption
– Increased quality of life ≈ increased resource use
• Lack of incentive for conservation
• Lack of enforcement
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Habitat loss and fragmentation
– The end result of human settlement and resource extraction in a
landscape is a patchwork of small, isolated natural areas in a sea of
developed land… (Gascon et al. 1999)
• Remnant patches are analogous to islands
• Island Biogeography Theory
– Biodiversity a function of island size & distance to other islands
(MacArthur and Wilson 1967)
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Habitat loss and fragmentation
– Example from tropical moist forest in Rondonia, Brazil
1975
1986
Source:USGS
EROS Data
Center
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Habitat loss and fragmentation
Natural
Human
Patch Characteristic
Structure
Complex
Simple
Wildlife habitat
Suitable to
many species
Not always suitable & to
fewer species
Contrast between
patches
Lower
Higher
Edge effects
Less abrupt
Abrupt
Roads & other Human
structures
Never
Uniquely occur and create
unique dangers
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Invasive Species
Hawaii
Psidium cattleianum
Pennisetum setaceum
Puccinia rust
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Overexploitation
– Direct
• Commercial harvests
– Indirect
• Unintentional harvests (e.g., bycatch)
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Pollution
N fixation
N deposition
←
Natural
→
vs.
← Anthropogenic →
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Global Climate Change
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Forest Conservation Biology
•How do we manage forests to maximize
biodiversity?
– Restoration
– Protection
– Sustainable forest management
• Includes sustainable harvest for financial income
– Do not have to be mutually exclusive
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Protection of biodiversity
– What are protected areas?
• “An area of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the
protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural
and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal
or other effective means.” (IUCN)
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Arctic National Wildlife Refuge/USFWS
Tropical beach © E. Naro-Maciel, AMNH-CBC
Forest Conservation Biology
•Protection of biodiversity
– Global protected areas
• ~105,000 sites protecting ~12% of Earth's land surface
– A large piece of this is Greenland, which contains the world's
largest national park consisting primarily of snow
• Most of these are terrestrial, and marine protected
areas (MPAs) protect only ~0.5% of the world’s oceans
2003 UN List of Protected areas
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Protection of biodiversity: Hawaii Forest Birds
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Protection of biodiversity: Hawaii Forest Birds
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Protection of biodiversity: Representativeness
– Is existing protected area system representative?
• Most Protected Biomes: Temperate conifer forests
(25%), Flooded grasslands and savannas (18%) and
tropical or subtropical moist broadleaf forests (18%)
• Least Protected Biomes: Temperate grasslands,
savannas, and shrublands (5%), Mediterranean
forests, woodland and scrub (6%), and tropical or
subtropical conifer forest (6%)
43
Forest Conservation Biology
•Protection of biodiversity: Representativeness
– Of the 11,633 species of mammals, amphibians, turtles,
freshwater tortoises, & threatened birds analyzed, 12.2%
(1424) of species are not covered by any protected area
in the global network
(Perry et al., 2011)
44
Forest Conservation Biology
•Protection of biodiversity: Climate Change
– How will current conservation areas conserve
biological diversity with future climate change?
(Araújo et al., 2011)
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Forest Conservation Biology
•Protection of biodiversity: Climate Change
(Araújo et al., 2011)
46
Forest Conservation Biology
•Protection of biodiversity: Climate Change
–Hawaii will be removed from the impacts of
climate change as a small oceanic island…?
(Giambelluca et al., 2008)
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Causes for decline and extinction:
1) Habitat loss
2) Disease
• Restricts most native birds to high elevation forest
(~5,000 feet)
4000 m
Elevation
3000 m
Tree line
2000 m
1500 m
1000 m
Hakalau
Forest NWR
Sea level
Adapted from
Paxton 2011, USGS
Causes for decline and extinction:
1) Habitat loss
2) Disease
• Restricts most native birds to high elevation forest
(~5,000 feet)
4000 m
Global warming
threatens high
elevation forest
refuges
Elevation
3000 m
Tree line
2000 m
1500 m
1000 m
Hakalau
Forest NWR
Sea level
Adapted from
Paxton 2011, USGS
Forest Conservation Biology
•Managing for biodiversity outside of PAs
– Integrated Conservation & Development Projects
• Integrate biodiversity conservation & human livelihoods
– Indigenous & Extractive Reserves
• Lands allocated for use & habitation by native people
– Conservation Concessions
• Voluntary agreement where compensation is given for
foregoing development on public or private lands
– Debt for Nature swaps
• Rich country NGO “buys” poor country’s debt with funds
used for conservation activities managed by NGO
– Ecotourism, agroforestry, PES, REDD+, etc.
50
Forest Conservation Biology
•Sustainable forest management (SFM)
– “contribute to the management, conservation, &
sustainable development of forests”
• Relatively new concept (~1992), even though
sustainable management is at least 200 years old
• Environmental, social, and economic components of
sustainability considered simultaneously
• ~Reduced Impact Logging (RIL)
–
–
–
–
–
Well-trained workforce & careful harvest planning
Removal of climbers and lianas before felling
Directional tree felling
Riparian buffer zones
Improved technologies to reduce soil degradation
51
Forest Conservation Biology
•Sustainable forest management (SFM)
52
Forest Conservation Biology
•Sustainable forest management (SFM)
– Little evidence that SFM is effective
• Biological
– Indicators of forest biodiversity are insufficient
– Inadequate accounting for ecosystem dynamics
• Socioeconomic
– Unrealistic goals, & lack of realistic incentives for locals
– Projects generally not tied to market realities
– High initial costs & need for well-trained workforce
– Insufficient awareness of benefits
– Lack of political incentives
– Lucrative illegal timber market
53
Forest Conservation Biology
•Sustainable forest management (SFM)
–Forest Certification via ‘labeling’
• Promote a market for products to encourage SFM
– Allows discerning customers to pay a premium price
– Overcomes the economic drawbacks of SFM
• Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
– Independent, non-governmental, non-profit organization
– Sets standards for good management, & provides formal
recognition for those meeting standards
• Promising, but growth has been slow & of limited use
– Environmentally aware market not large enough yet
– Unsuitable for smallholder & community-based forests
» 25% of forest base & growing
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